Published: Monday, June 17, 2013 at 10:20 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, June 17, 2013 at 10:20 a.m.

A Leland man drove an SUV at deputies in a bid to escape a police checkpoint Friday, prompting officers to open fire on the Lincoln Navigator, Brunswick County Sheriff John Ingram said during a press conference Monday.

"Realizing their lives were in danger of being run over by this vehicle, proceeded to shoot at the vehicle in attempts to stop the vehicle from traveling any further," the sheriff said of the four Brunswick County deputies and three New Hanover County deputies working the joint-agency drunken driving checkpoint in the southbound lanes of U.S. 17 near Regent Way in Leland.

Jerry Onasis Melvin, 42, is in the Brunswick County jail on eight counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, eight counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a government official, and one count of felony conspiracy to elude. With his left arm in a sling, Melvin appeared in court Monday where a judge appointed him an attorney.

The second man, Antoine Levar Graham, 32, remained in the hospital Monday morning. Ingram said he did not know Graham's condition.

Ingram said both men were shot "multiple times."

Graham is charged with 10 counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, 10 counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a government official, one count of flee/elude arrest with motor vehicle, one count of felony conspiracy to elude, one count of possession of marijuana, and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia.

Ingram said the incident began about 11:30 p.m. when Brunswick County Sheriff's Deputy John Rogers saw "numerous items being thrown" from the Navigator as it approached the checkpoint.

"Once he got up next to the vehicle, the vehicle proceeded to attempt to get away from Deputy Rogers, traveling at a high rate of speed, exiting that lane, into the other lane, and directly toward officers in an attempt to run them over to avoid being detained," Ingram said.

He said the Navigator then made a U-turn in the median and a man, suffering from gunshot wounds, jumped from it. The driver continued northbound on U.S. 17 and then onto U.S. 74/76.

Shortly after the Navigator turned onto U.S. 74/76, Ingram said, Rogers used his patrol car to tap the rear of the SUV, causing the Navigator to spin into the median.

"One deputy positioned his car in front of that vehicle ... (Rogers) exited the vehicle and perceiving the threat being used against him again as well as fellow officers, proceeded to fire again in attempts to stop the suspect," Ingram said.

Ingram said he did not know how many rounds were fired, but a total of seven officers fired their duty revolvers during the incident.

He said there are no reports that civilian cars other than the SUV were hit by bullets, but at least one New Hanover County patrol car was hit.

"It did take some time to get a clear picture of what actually was going on," Ingram said in explaining why it took more than two days before his office would release details of the incident.

As for what was thrown from the SUV, Ingram said he couldn't say for sure, but a weapon, a bag of marijuana and a container of alcohol were recovered.

"Another question that always arises is, were officers acting recklessly and without regard for the public safety and I can assure you they were acting with extreme care for the safety of the public and the safety of everyone involved in that checkpoint," he said.

Both the Brunswick County Sheriff's Office and the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office are conducting their own internal investigations and the State Bureau of Investigation has been called on to conduct a separate investigation.